1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, in general, relates to shopping carts and, more particularly, to a system for washing shopping carts.
Shopping carts are used for the placement and transport of merchandise that is to be purchased. Shopping carts are commonly used in grocery stores (i.e., supermarkets), department stores, and various other types of business establishments. It has been scientifically shown that shopping carts accumulate substantial concentrations of germs, viruses, and other disease agents that can spread infection amongst those who use the shopping carts by transference through touch.
Certain of the business establishments have provided a variety of attempted solutions to avert the spread of disease which include providing wipes and disinfectants for use, but these are largely overlooked and impractical. Customers would, instead, prefer to use a cart that they know is clean. This has created a need for washing carts.
There are no known cart washers that are comparable to the instant invention. Attempts to modify existing washing machines such as those designed to clean wheelchairs have had limited success and include many disadvantages, deficits, problems, or shortcomings. While representative of the current state of the prior art, such types of washing machines are intended to solve a different purpose and therefore, includes structures not especially well suited for washing shopping carts.
For example, a shorter wash time is needed than is currently available. This is because many stores have hundreds of shopping carts and if an excessive amount time is required to wash each cart, including the time to put the cart in the machine, wash it, and remove it from the machine then the labor investment will be too high to be practicable.
Certain prior art designs include a plumbing conduit on the floor which makes passage of wheels, such as are found on a bottom of the cart, over the conduit difficult to accomplish. This also causes a lower portion of any cart placed therein to be disposed directly in a sump containing the fluid. This is not desirable for numerous reasons. Also, a lip proximate a ramp and entry door of certain prior art cleaning machines makes passage of the cart over the lip difficult to accomplish.
Certain prior art designs include a design that precludes UL approval of the entire machine. The main pump of certain prior designs heats excessively if a door proximate the main pump is closed and the pump is operated for an extended period of time.
Certain prior art machines require at least five gallons of water and if less water is attempted to be used, the sump may be sucked empty during use which would result in a loss of prime.
Certain of the prior art designs require the opening of a side door on a sidewall to replenish or change any of the wash or rinse chemicals which precludes placement of the device against a wall that would obstruct opening of the side door or access to an interior.
Additionally and of special importance, all known prior art types of washing machines that include one or more automatic cycle settings do not also include a manual setting. This is because all prior art washing machines teach away from including a manual mode capability along with one or more automatic washing cycles. This is because of the possibility to overfill or otherwise misuse the washing machine when switching from an automatic setting (perhaps in mid-cycle) to a manual setting or because of the possibility to overfill or otherwise misuse the washing machine when the machine is in the manual mode.
However, there is a need to be able to provide an automatic setting for routine cleaning and to also provide manual cleaning capability to optimally tailor operation when cleaning carts that are exceptionally dirty or clean.
To better illustrate the teaching away of prior art, consider that a home laundry washing machine that includes several automatic cycles from which to choose does not, also, include manual capability whereby the user can repeatedly press a “fill button” to fill the laundry washing machine with water (or control any of the other functions) because of the very real risk that the laundry washing machine could be filled beyond overflowing.
Another prior art approach to solving the problem of cart contamination is to provide an open shell for the placement of a shopping cart therein and to spray a disinfectant or sanitizing agent on the cart via three or four nozzles that are provided. However, this approach is unsatisfactory because the moment the “sanitized” cart is removed from the cleaning station by store personnel it is no longer sanitized as a result of contact by the store personnel. Additionally, any agent that is sprayed on the cart tends to accumulate in layers, which is undesirable. The agent may cake or get sudsy, especially if the cart is exposed to rain or mist. Customers do not appreciate caking (i.e., layering) of material on the cart or any occurrence of suds on the cart. Additionally, the floors can become slippery due to the suds created by the agent. This can occur where the carts are sprayed and also where the carts are stored or used. In particular, there is the possibility that the floors in the stores, themselves, can become slippery as a result of using this type of a system. This creates a liability for the stores.
Accordingly, there exists today a need for a cart washer that helps to ameliorate the above-mentioned problems and difficulties as well as ameliorate those additional problems and difficulties as may be recited in the “OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION” or discussed elsewhere in the specification or which may otherwise exist or occur and that are not specifically mentioned herein.
Clearly, such a cart cleaning machine or system would be especially useful and desirable.
2. Description of Prior Art
Shopping carts are, in general, known as are machines for washing commercial products. However, a cart washer comparable to the instant invention is not known. The only known distally related prior art device is a wheelchair washing machine that is made by Medco Equipment, however it does not anticipate the instant novel structures or the benefits derived, therefrom.
A prior art device that is sold by “Pure Cart Systems” does not wash a shopping cart but instead is used to spray a disinfectant or a sanitizing agent on the cart.
While the structural arrangements of the above described device and other washing machines devices may, at first appearance, have similarities with the present invention, they differ in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail hereinafter, are essential for the effective use of the invention and which admit of the advantages that are not available with the prior devices.